Sightless
by avengerteam
Summary: Summary: When Tony saves his teammate, an accident hits him hard. Tony works through the pain of a crippling handicap: blindness. Rated T because I just don't know.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's a new brainchild. I got the idea for this after reading **_**Afterimage**_** by ****niewypowiedziane**** . If you haven't read it, you should. It won't affect this story, but it's a good one. **

**This is my first fic with, you know, a PLOT, so we'll see how it goes. Plus, I've never written much action before.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, Marvel has it all.**

Chapter 1

"Cap, on your right!" Tony watches as Cap swings around and decks one of the nasty robot/animal things that they're fighting today. _Need a name... need a name... _Tony murmurers in the back of his mind as he repulses a few more by Clint. _They're like rhino robots. Rhinobots? Rhonos? _

He hasn't yet decided what these new threats are to be dubbed when he hears Natasha scream. Fear immediately shoots through him. Natasha does not scream. Ever. Even when she's angry. Usually she yells a lot and sometimes does this scary shrieking thing when she's fighting, but she never, ever screams.

"JARVIS, monitor Natasha!" Tony says, and swoops down a side street to get to where he saw her last, fighting side by side with Thor. When he emerges, he sees the god, swinging his hammer frantically, trying to work his way towards Natasha. She's half off the ground, over on his left, and even from fifty yards away, Tony can tell that her leg is broken, up above the knee.

"_Sir, there is a target near the building. He seems to be carrying an explosive device." _Taking note of JARVIS' words and swearing steadily, Tony changes course away from Natasha and rockets towards the huge animal cyborg, who is trying to be as stealthy as possible despite having a body the size of a pickup truck.

"JARVIS, blast radius?"

"_Blast radius approximately fifty meters, sir." _Tony starts yelling into his comm link. "THOR! Get Natasha and get away! Steve, Clint, get the Hulk! We're going to need him, this one's massive and it's got an explosive!"

"Shit! Be right there!" Steve grunts as something hits him. Tony can hear the air leaving his lungs, even on the comm. If they weren't all in terrible danger right now, like always, he would laugh at Cap's feeble swearing. He makes a mental note to mock Spangles about it later.

His mental file of Cap's swears is interrupted by another scream from Natasha. Wheeling around in midair, he sees the problem. The explosive-laden monster is running at her as fast as it can, which is fairly fast, given it's size. Natasha is trying to get away from it, but with her leg so badly broken, the best the assassin can do is a couple of feet a second.

There isn't time. Without letting himself think about the consequences of what he is about to do, Tony dives at the charging creature. He see's Natasha's face as he flies over her, and she manages to look angry and fierce even though she's probably about to pass out from the leg and the terror of a charging rhino robot speeding at her. Steve is yelling into the comm link, but Tony's too focused to process what he's saying.

Half a second later, Tony's suit collides with the creature, knocking it backwards almost a hundred yards and into the base of a deserted looking building. Tony can't stop his momentum and he slams into the building right after it. Hitting the ground hard, he just has time to look up and find Thor scooping up Natasha and running her back to an alleyway, Steve, Clint, and Hulk sprinting onto the scene. That's the last thing Tony Stark sees as a fireball engulfs the building and it crumbles onto him.

**So? Good? Bad? Do you want to run around screaming because it's so awful? Let me know if you have any suggestions about future chapters!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When Tony wakes up, he hurts. A lot. His throat is raw, and the rest of him feels like it was rubbed with sandpaper. When he moves, just a little, it feels like someone stabbed him in the head and twisted the knife around.

Tony can feel a bandage across his eyes, forehead, and his left cheek, as well as several other places on his body, joints seeming to be the most popular spot. A hospital, then. Tony hates hospitals. Who put him in here? Why is he in here, anyway? The genius struggles with his aching head, trying to figure out this seemingly impossible puzzle. They had been fighting those weird robots... Natasha had been screaming. What had he done? He remembered hitting the monster and slamming after it into the building, then... black.

He moves a little, again, even though his head still really hurts. This time, a voice, thick with exhaustion, says his name. "Tony? Are you awake?" Despite his brain starting to work better, it takes him a second to place it. Bruce, their resident doctor and green giant on occasion.

"Whaggazah?" Tony croaks out. Even though he sounded like he had been breathing dirt for several days, Bruce seemed to understand.

"Helicarrier. Avengers suite in the hospital sector. Do you want a drink?" Tony manages to make a sound that is vaguely affirmative, because he doesn't want to move his head again, and then a straw is poking into his mouth and _bliss bliss bliss is running down his dry throat. _Everything is starting to get fuzzy again, so Tony asks because he knows he's going to fall back asleep.

"Natasha?" There's a rustle of fabric as Bruce takes the straw and the drink away from Tony and a small _chink_ as he sets it down somewhere.

"She's fine, Tony. Everyone's fine. Go back to sleep." And Tony does.

The next time he wakes up, there are voices everywhere. Before trying to move, Tony mentally runs a systems check. _Knees, elbows, ankles? Check. _Hurting, but not much. _Ribs? Check_. Throbbing with the fading ache that Tony associates with bruised ribs. _Head? Check._ There's still bandages on his face; lighter, he can tell, than the ones he had on before, but still enough that the world is dark. The stabbing in his head is fading, but Tony's pretty sure he's not going to want bright lights or loud noises for a few days.

"Guys?" Tony voices tentatively. He can hear at least Thor's rumble, Natasha's silky voice, and Bruce again.

"Tony? How are you feeling?" Asks a voice that is undeniably Steve. Everyone else shuts up when they hear Steve ask, and Tony is pretty sure that he has the undivided attention of five sets of eyes.

"Better... Is everyone here?"

"Yeah, everyone's here. Tasha has a broken leg, but other than a few cuts, bruises, and burns, the rest of us are okay. You got the worst of it." Tony can hear the tired note that enters Steve's voice whenever he talks about a long mission, along with the happiness that accompanies most of his team being relatively unharmed.

He hesitates. There's a long pause in the room.

"What about me?" Tony finally asks. Bruce clears his throat and answers.

"Some minor burns, mostly where the joints of the suit are, and also on your face a little. Already healing, and shouldn't scar. A lot of bruises, especially on your ribs, but nothing broken. We think you got hit on the head really hard also, but... we don't really know. Plus, we couldn't do to much with that until you woke up."

Natasha interrupted. "Because that's what happens when you fly into a fucking explosive rhino robot and then into a building that collapses and blows up, moron!" Even though her voice was getting uncomfortably loud at the end, Tony thought he could detect a little note of thanks hiding in there somewhere. It was as much as he probably would get. The Black Widow didn't do apologies.

"Okay, sorry..." Tony mumbled. "Does Pepper know?" Pepper was at an international meeting in India.

"I called her," Bruce volunteered. "She knows that you should be okay, and will be here when the conference is done, three days. Which is when you should get out of here, providing you rest until then."

Tony nodded, exhausted. "I'm going to go back to sleep now, 'k?" He didn't hear an answer, already too far gone.

**Just wait, everyone, the bombshell is coming. Bwahahaha! Please, please review! Thanks for reading! I'll try to post every few days, it will just depend on my amount of school work.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 3

The bandages come off two days later.

Most of the burns had been minor, and were already rapidly healing. His head hurt less, only when it was really loud or he was tired or something startled him. The bruises on his ribs were fading and breathing was easy. (Or as easy as it got with his lung capacity and the hole in his chest.)

All that was left was the one on his face. Thank god, because Tony was sick of sitting and doing nothing. Now that his head didn't hurt, he could think again, and every second felt like forever sitting in the dark.

"...and here's the last one!" The doctor pulled off the last bandage from over his eyes and cheek and left to go get Tony's chart. Tony could feel the gauze being lifted off of his face and the air tickling his skin. He opens his eyes. Still dark. He closes them again and opens them a few more times, experimentally.

_No, no, no, no, this is not happening to me..._Tony can feel his breathing speeding up, moving towards hyperventilation.

"Tony, what's wrong?" Bruce cuts into the beginning of Tony's panic attack. He's the only one there today. The rest of the team got called out to duty, but the job was small enough that the Other Guy wasn't needed.

"Bruce, turn the lights up. All the way." Tony knows he sounds panicked, but shit, he is panicking and there's nothing he can do about it. He hears his friend move across the room and slide his fingers across the little touch screen that controls the lights.

Now Tony is really starting to lose it. His breathing is incredibly fast, and he can feel his heart against his lungs. His eyelids are fluttering, trying to find something to focus on, one speck of light in the darkness surrounding him.

"Tony? Tony, tell me what's wrong." Now Bruce is starting to sound worried too, probably because Tony is about five seconds away from having a full meltdown.

"I can't see, Bruce! What's wrong with me? I can't see!"

"Tony, if you're joking, you will never leave a hospital bed again." Bruce is running to press the little button next to the bed that summons the doctor, and the man is there just a second later.

"Why the fuck can't I see?!" Tony verbally molests the man as soon as he walks through the door.

"At all?" The doctor seems confused, which gives Tony less than no confidence about the situation that he is currently struggling in.

"At all," Tony confirms. He feels a hand on his shoulder, probably Bruce, and tries to relax, but it's hard when he knows that everything he lives for, the Avengers, his workshop, science, _living_, is collapsing inside him.

Four hours later, Tony has been CATscanned, had a MRI as best as possible (even though he has eaten in the last however many hours), taken several eye tests, and is now awaiting results.

"As far as I can tell, your eyes are perfectly fine." The doctor is standing next to Tony's bed, where the genius is sitting with his eyes closed. As long as the world is going to be dark, it feels more right to have them shut, so at least it makes sense.

"There are no anomalies on any of the brain scans, so I have two possibilities. The first is that it's a very small particle of matter that is somehow damaging your optic nerves. This could heal, or it could not. The second is that somehow your mind created a mental block in response to the explosion. It could go away on its own also, but we don't know."

Tony tried not to let the pain that the words were causing him to show. "So basically, it's something going on in my head, nobody really knows what it is or if its fixable, and maybe it will go away tomorrow, and maybe it will never go away."

The doctor hesitated. "I really am sorry Mr Stark." Tony heard him leave the room and lowered his head into his hands.

He was blind. He would never get to see Pepper again, or any of his teammates, or even Fury. _What teammates?All you are now is a liability._

"Tony? Do you want me to tell them?" Bruce asked quietly. Tony sucked in a breath and nodded. "And Pepper?"

That stopped Tony. He should probably tell Pepper himself, but to say it is to make it irreversible. He nodded again. "Ask her to bring me a suit. The dark grey one. And... my sunglasses. The reflective pair."

An agent stuck her head through the door. "Doctor Banner, Mr Stark, your team is back."

"I'll go tell them." Bruce got up. Tony flinched involuntarily when his friend's hand gently touched his shoulder. "It'll be okay, Tony."

**Like always, review please! If you have any situations you wish Tony would get into, tell me!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 4

Pepper arrived the next morning. Tony had slept through the night fitfully, on and off. With every waking, a new teammate's voice would assure him that everything was going to be okay, that he was fine, and should go back to sleep.

Nobody but Tony was aware of the mental battle raging inside his own head. Why were they reassuring him? He clearly was not fine. He probably wasn't even part of the team anymore. He was a liability, someone who could get hurt and not defend themselves. Hell, he probably couldn't even walk across the living room anymore.

The seventh or eighth time Tony woke up, Pepper was there. As he started to wake up, his fuzzy brain heard Bruce talking to someone, telling them about what was wrong, and what the Avengers knew about it.

"Tony?" He heard Pepper's voice, and turned towards it, his eyelids fluttering as he tried, again, to find light where there was only darkness. There were footsteps, several pairs, and Tony assumed the other Avengers were leaving the room.

"Pepper?" Even though he tried to keep his voice steady, it wavered a little. He flinched a little as suddenly her hand was running through his hair. "Pepper, I can't see." He swallowed hard. Saying it made it permanent. There was no going back now. "I can't see."

Pepper made a soft sound in her throat, and even without his sight, Tony could tell she was crying. "Oh, Tony. Bruce told me what happened. And that it might go away on it's own." Reaching towards her general direction and finding her, Tony pulled her into his arms on the bed. Tears were running down his face and into her hair. She smelled like lavender and vanilla, something that never changed.

They sat there and cried together for almost an hour, until Tony sucked it all back in and pulled himself together. "When can I leave?"

"Today. You have a final checkup in an hour or so, and then you can go. I've invited the Avengers to continue staying in the tower, even with..." She trailed off. "Unless you rather they not?"

Tony shook his head. "They can stay."

"Are you sure?" Pepper didn't sound demeaning or suspicious, and Tony could tell that she was ready to toss the team on Fury if he said so. He took a breath. _Are you sure? _Far from it, this was going to be a nightmare, the team seeing him vulnerable, useless, and weak. But they were his family too, and was going to need all the help he could get, no matter how painful it was.

"Yeah. They can stay."

An hour later, Tony was dressed in the suit Pepper had brought him, and the dark sunglasses that completely blocked his eyes. He held onto her elbow, and she slowly walked him into the hallway, where the team was waiting for them. Every once in a while, she would whisper a direction, telling him that there was a step, six inches, and wide, or that the hallway was narrow, so Bruce was in front and Steve was behind them.

Tony was shocked at the amount of echoes the team's footsteps produced. He started inwardly thanking Fury for clearing this sector of the Helicarrier of personnel so that there weren't voices and feet and breathing everywhere. Already, he was depending on his hearing to tell him about the world, and he was pretty sure that seven was going to be a maximum of people for now. They made it into the quinjet in the landing hangar without any problems.

When they land half an hour later, Tony doesn't move until Pepper is next to him and starts whispering in his ear again.

Just before they get into the tower, Tony stops. "Pepper? Does JARVIS know?"

Gently, Pepper nudges him forwards. "Yes, he knows. I told him." Tony nods in response, and continues forwards. Even though it's his tower, he still doesn't know every bit of it by heart, and finds himself counting steps under his breath as he moves from the landing pad to the common area and kitchen that the Avengers share. The rest of the team go off, probably to sleep, and also to give him some privacy for the first time in days.

Pepper helps him into a chair, and Tony puts his face in his hands and just sits there for a moment. Everything is crashing over him again. He can't see his tower, the bots, or the woman beside him who he knows looks stunning right now, because she always does.

"J, you there?" He calls out eventually, face still in his hands.

"_Always, Sir." _Is it him, or does the A.I. sound worried?

"Thanks for the heads up on that rhino, buddy. I missed it totally." He hesitates for a moment. "We're going to need a few design updates, J. And you and the bots are going to need some new code. This is going to be different then usual. Start a program called Tony's Eyes and backdate it to the day of the accident."

Pepper cuts in. "Not now, though, JARVIS. Tony, you need to sleep, and eat. As long as we don't know about your eyes, you are going to be totally healthy otherwise."

Tony laughs a little, almost sadly, because he knows Pepper has on her 'Board Meeting' face and he can't see it. He doesn't argue, though, even when she hands him a plate with a sandwich and juice, but no coffee. Silently, Pepper guides his hands to the plate, and then leaves for a second to get some paperwork that she needs to do.

Tony knows he's making a mess. It's killing him, being dependent on everyone, like a child. He starts to reach out for the glass of juice, then swears when he realizes he has no idea where it is. Inside, he's humiliated. He is a genius, a billionaire, and an Avenger, and he can't even find a damn glass of juice on the kitchen table.

"_Twenty centimeters, at your one o'clock, Sir." _JARVIS cuts into his swearing.

Tony sighs. "Thanks, J." He carefully locates the glass and drains is, standing unsteadily, and turning towards the elevator. "Get me up to the bedroom, okay?"

Between the two of them, Tony makes it to the elevator without falling or running into anything. While he walks, Tony keeps his arms outstretched slightly. Even though he trusts JARVIS with his life, he still feels like he is centimeters away from crashing into things. When he makes the elevator, Pepper comes back in. She doesn't comment on the fact that he is no longer at the table, or the mess that he knows he left behind, just stands next to him, just close enough for him to _feel _her there.

When the elevator arrives, she guides him down the hall and into their room. She hands him his pajamas and helps him with the buttons on the suit he is still wearing. When he finally makes it into the bed, he can feel her sit next to him. Even though he's been sleeping for a few days, Tony falls asleep immediately, moving from one blackness to another.

**There's chapter four! Please give me any ideas that you think Tony should struggle with / overcome. Review and keep reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: If I was Marvel, I would be rich, and would therefore have created my own Iron Man suit by now.**

**Thanks for the ideas to work into this everyone! I'm going to try to fit them all in!**

Chapter 5

When Tony wakes up, he tells JARVIS to turn on the lights. Then he feels like he got punched in the stomach, because, _oh yeah, Tony Stark can't fucking see! _Tony takes a couple of deep (as deep as possible with the reactor) breaths, and swings his legs over towards the edge of the bed. Due to the bed's size, however, his legs don't reach the edge of the bed. He is stranded in the middle of his own damn bed.

"_Your feet are approximately ten centimeters from the edge, Sir." _JARVIS quietly speaks up.

"Thanks, J," Tony sighs. Can't even get out of bed. Worthless. A liability. "J?" Tony finally says. "When I wake up, always turn on the lights, okay? I just want to know they're on."

"_Of course." _

Tony makes it out of bed and into the bathroom. He pauses where he knows the mirror is, reaching out until he finds it and running his fingers over the cool metal. Four days ago, he got up and looked in the mirror. Now he can't even get up.

As best as he can, Tony gets ready to face the day. He brushes his teeth and combs his hair without much difficulty; any time he can't find something, J directs his hands to it. Sighing again, he runs his hands over the goatee that has always been his signature look. It's getting scruffy. Even after a few days, he's starting to get a full grown beard. Later, he'll have to ask Pepper to help him shave. It burns that he can't do it himself, and he has to clench his teeth together and squeeze his eyes shut to avoid thinking about it.

Dragging himself out of the room, he rests one hand on the wall, using it as a guide down the hallway.

"J? Who's in the kitchen?" Tony doesn't want to be surprised by anything.

"_All of the Avengers are present, sir."_

"We're going to have to work out a way you can tell me that without using the speakers, J, for when I'm out in public." Taking yet another deep breath, Tony makes his way into the kitchen, JARVIS instructing him on the path to the kitchen island where the Avengers eat a communal breakfast. Trailing his fingers along the seat backs, Tony sits himself down in the chair that he always occupies, when he bothers leaving whatever is in his lab for breakfast.

When he is finally seated, the watchful silence that pervaded the room with his entrance fades as Bruce wishes him good morning and sets a plate of food in front of him. "Toast with butter and cinnamon sugar," Bruce says.

Inside his head, Tony thanks Bruce for making him something that doesn't involve kitchen utensils or messy components. The doctor probably did it on purpose. Bruce thought of things like that. Outwardly, he simply nods his thanks. "Is there coffee?" He asks.

The distinct sound of a cup filling reaches his ears, and then the slide of a mug across the granite tabletop. It just grazes his fingertips then stops, so he knows where it is. Reaching, he picks it up and brings it up to his lips.

"Smells good." A voice, Natasha's, suddenly is right next to him. Tony jerks involuntarily, splashing hot coffee everywhere and dropping the mug, which shatters on the table. He can feel his heart racing as he tries to calm down.

"Damn it, Natasha! You fucking can't do that to me! You have a broken leg! Walk louder, for god's sake!" Even though he knows that his anger is irrational, he can't help but enjoy being able to retaliate for_ something._ "J, remind me to write that into the new code. People who I don't hear."

Natasha sighs. There seems to be a lot of that happening. "Sorry, Tony. I forgot. I won't do it again."

"You forgot. Lucky you." Tony mutters, then shakes his head at himself. "Sorry. That was unnecessary."

"_Sir," _JARVIS cuts into the conversation. "_Miss Potts would like to inform you that she will be back tonight at about seven, but that Colonel Rhodes has learned that there was an accident, and will be here mid afternoon."_

Tony can't find it in him to argue with his A.I., or Pepper, about his friend, even though the last thing he wants is another person who he respects to see him now. "Fine. Whatever. I'm going to the lab." He holds up a hand in the general direction of Bruce. "Nope! No arguing. I gotta tell the bots I'm okay. And then J and I have some work to do." He stands up. "J, help me out here."

"_Fifteen meters, to your three o'clock."_

Tony turns and leaves the room, still trailing his fingers on any surface to keep his balance. He feels like he's going to fall into the suffocation blackness and never get out.

When he gets to the elevator, the doors slide open for him and he steps inside. Taking a few quick steps around before the door even closes, Tony dimensions the elevator, something that never even occurred to him before.

As soon as the doors open, Tony smiles. He doesn't need JARVIS' direction here, because he knows this part of the Tower like the back of his hand. Three steps later, he is palming open the door to his lab/workshop/garage/hangar. Another step after that, he is gently bumped into at knee height by a bot. A grin crosses his face, the first one in days. Carefully, because Tony has no idea what is between his face and the floor, he kneels down.

There is a series of soft chirps and whirs and the cold tip of a steel bot arm runs across his cheek. Thank god JARVIS told them already about the blindness, and therefore Dummy is being extra careful, otherwise he probably would have accidentally smacked Tony in the head. (Accidentally more or less; Tony is still not sure how much of Dummy's clumsiness is real and how much is just a game to the bot.)

"Hey little buddy, did you miss me?" Rubbing his fingers up and down the bot's cool sides and over the little divots where the screws are, Tony feels the bot hum in response. "Yeah I know you did. And J told me that you fixed the flux capacitor while I was gone, too. Ready for a new project?"

He stands and makes a quick trip around the room, quick as he can at least, Dummy following his every move, You right behind Dummy.

When he arrives back at his main worktable, he cracks all his knuckles and gets down to business. "Okay J. Program Run: Tony's Eyes. I need you to be eyes for me no matter where we are, inside, outside, wherever. What have we got that can do at least that?"

AAAAAA

Four hours later, Bruce pops his head into the lab. He's the only one in the Tower besides Pepper, Rhodey, and Tony himself who knows all the lab codes. Tony knew that Bruce was coming in; he already asked JARVIS to tell him if anyone wanted to come in, so he would know.

"Brucie! My lab bro! Come help me out for a second!" Tony hears Bruce's footsteps come towards him. They stop about two steps away. "Look at this! This marvel of technology is going to be my new friend for a while. I'm calling it Tony's Eyes. Basic stuff, really, but it should help a lot."

Bruce chuckles his low laugh. "Tony Stark, ladies and gentlemen. What can't he do?"

Even though it hurts a little, to think about all the things he now can't do, Tony laughs too. "Well, I can't put this little battery in. Neither can Dummy, it's too small for him."

"Where?"

"It just slides into that little groove..." Tony feels the parts in his hands cautiously. It's smooth, a small gem-like high definition camera. He reaches up and clips the little link onto the cartilage on the top of his ear, just low enough that his hair won't interfere, making sure it's facing the right way. "JARVIS, you there?"

_"All systems seem to be functioning perfectly sir. For a test, Doctor Banner is wearing a blue shirt, jeans, and his glasses."_

Tony relays the information to Bruce who laughs again, then confirms what JARVIS described.

"Perfect, Tony. What all can it do?"

"Quite a bit, for it's size. High-def cameras, sub-dermal sound travel. It looks like an earring of some sort, and has JARVIS in it. He has a wider range of sight than I do normally, plus infrared and all sorts of cool stuff. I built another set in the sunglasses, and another that can be a backup and clip on clothing or wherever. The whole thing runs on a new battery concept, so it should last almost indefinitely."

The duo heads upstairs, JARVIS directing Tony flawlessly, but Tony still touching Bruce's sleeve just a little. Tony shows off his new technology immediately, the whole team oohing and aahing over the eargear.

JARVIS cut into the admiration session. "_Sir, Colonel Rhodes has arrived."_

**There it is, folks! How is Tony going to tell his BFF that he can't see? Who knows? I sure don't. :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Tony takes a deep breath and holds it for a few seconds, then lets it out slowly. "OK, JARVIS, send him up."

Steve's voice. "Do you want us to go, Tony? So you can talk to him?"

Tony shakes his head. "You can stay. I might need some help, and you at least need introductions." At that moment, the elevator dings, then Rhodey is there.

"Tony Stark, you moron! Only you would fly into a building. What happened to your perfect flying?"

JARVIS just has time to whisper in Tony's ear that Rhodey is approaching when the man flings himself on Tony. Even though he was expecting it, the amount of force surprises him, and he has to take a step and a half backwards to try to keep his balance. However, that takes him directly into the coffee table behind him, and before he knows it, he's falling. A pair of large hands catch him by the arms, steadying him and keeping him from slamming into anything. Tony is pretty sure it's Steve, and he's glad because he's also pretty sure Rhodey would never get rid of the guilt if he knocked over Tony and made him hit his head again.

Rhodey has clearly realized that something is wrong with Tony when he doesn't actively respond to the bear hug, and falls back without regards to his surroundings. Then, when he is upright, Tony only stands, looking in his general direction instead of reciprocating. Then it hits Tony. _He doesn't know. Pepper said he knew there was an accident, but he doesn't know what's wrong with me._

Just as the genius finishes reaching that unhappy conclusion, Rhodey asks. "Tony? Tony, I'm sorry, I didn't know that there was a problem... what's wrong?" His voice sounds shaky.

"I... I can't see. I'm blind. Indefinitely." It still kills Tony to say it, as if it cements something in his mind that is saying he will never be free of this.

He can hear his best friend's gasp, and that almost hurts even more. So Tony changes the topic. "Introductions! Steve, all the Avengers present?"

"Yeah, we're all here."

Tony reels off the Avengers. "Agent Natasha Romanoff, assassin extraordinaire, who you know as Natalie Rushman. Agent Clint Barton, marksman and assassin. Thor Odinson, Asgardian prince. Doctor Bruce Banner, green rage monster and brilliant physicist. And Captain Steve Rogers, team leader, better known as Captain America. Guys, this is my friend Colonel James Rhodes. Rhodey. Currently the flier of the suit 'war machine'. Team, Rhodey, Rhodey, team." As he finishes, there is plenty of fabric rustling and hand shaking sounds as well as a few 'good to meet yous'.

"Okay everyone, downstairs to the rec room! It's movie night!" Clint exclaims. As the Avengers leave, he leans in to Tony as he passes. "Come down when you're done, 'kay?"

Tony nods in Clint's direction and waits for the Avengers to finish filing out before locating a chair (without JARVIS's help; he pretty much has this room figured out if he doesn't have to think about it too quickly.). He directs Rhodey to another with a flick of his fingers and waits.

"You're really blind, Tony?" Rhodey's voice is rock steady now.

"Yeah." And Tony fills him in on everything that has happened to him since the battle with the rhino robots several days ago. "...and so it might never go away or I might be able to see in five minutes."

"That's crazy, man. What are you going to do?" The genius can picture Rhodey perfectly in his mind, an expression of neutrality on his face, but sadness and kindness in his eyes.

"Live with it. The Avengers can help me out. I don't know what my status on the team is anymore, because I definitely can't fly out with them, but..." He doesn't voice the dark fears that are plaguing him again, that he is now worthless, an outcast, someone to be pitied and looked after but not respected. If he said that out loud, Rhodey would probably rush off and confront the team, which he would like to avoid at a first meeting.

"Well, sounds like you have a good handle on it. Do you want to go down and join them?" Tony laughs a little. He can tell that the issue is still very much in Rhodey's mind (even without seeing him), but he sure doesn't want to talk any more if he can avoid it.

"Sure. It's been almost two hours, they've probably finished the first whatever-it-is we're seeing today." He winces a little at the 'seeing' part, but decides to let it go. He can't avoid the eye and seeing comments and metaphors forever.

When they get down, the Avengers have just finished the first Star Wars movie, something they watched a long time ago. They never got to move on, though, due to a series of sudden attacks, and so have obviously decided to re-watch it before continuing to introduce Steve and Thor to a classic of geek culture.

Tony sits and listens. The genius has always liked Star Wars, and can play most of the action in his head while hearing it on the screen. Having declared himself an expert, he also gets the job of explaining to Thor, that no, there are no Death Stars, and he doesn't (yet) own a lightsaber.

_Could be fun, though. _Tony files that away for a future project.

They laugh, talk, and eat pizza, which arrives in its usual massive quantities about half an hour after Tony and Rhodey make it to the rec room.

When Rhodey finally stands to go, they've made it through the original trilogy and are starting the prequels. He hugs Tony again, with less force, and whispers "If you need me, or the War Machine, call, okay?" Tony nods, and Rhodey leaves.

"I like him" Steve says. "Down to earth, seems pretty smart, and is good with spending time watching Star Wars with a group of superheros he just met."

Tony nods. That's Rhodey. His best friend and supporter.

**Whew! I struggled through that one! Please review, I'm still taking suggestions about the story, and would love feedback and ideas! Please please please! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: If I was Marvel, I would have recreated the super-soldier serum and would have successfully made myself the female Captain America.**

**Thanks to Ally Downey for part of this idea, and thanks to all who commented. Please keep reading and reviewing!**

Chapter 7

It was a little after midnight when he broke the vase. Tony had only been asleep for an hour or so, but already had woken up sweating and panting, to find that the world was still dark, even with his eyes open. As quietly as possible, he got out of the bed, not waking Pepper, who was dead to the world.

_"_J? Get me to the kitchen on the communal floor?" Tony knows that if he tries to use the kitchen on this floor, Pepper will definitely wake up, and that's the last thing he wants. Even though he would love to hold Pepper and just _talk,_ the genius knows that she needs sleep.

Tony's not even tired anymore. He figures that a fucked-up sleeping pattern is going to be normal, now that it's dark all the time.

With only a little help from JARVIS, Tony makes it to the elevator. It's only a dozen meters down the hall from where his room is. He lets JARVIS start the elevator once he's in it, because he can't remember quite the button layout, despite riding in this elevator a million times, and doesn't feel like learning it right at this instant.

The accident happens as soon as he leaves the elevator. Exiting, Tony immediately turns to his right to cut across the room to the kitchen that the Avengers usually eat breakfast at. He's forgotten that on this floor, there happens to be a small table with a large vase of flowers on it, sent in by fans of the Avengers.

"_Sir-" _Tony belatedly hears JARVIS as he runs into the table, knocking it over. The vase shatters on the floor and he falls on it, feeling some of the glass cut his hands. The crash was, to Tony's ears, incredibly loud, and he sits holding his breath, hoping that someone didn't hear him from another floor.

_"Captain Rogers is approaching. Sir, are you all right?" _JARVIS barely has time to finish the sentence before Steve bursts into the room.

"Tony! Are you okay?" Steve's voice has a slight edge of panic, probably because Tony is on the floor, slightly damp from the flower water, hands stinging from what feel like a multitude of small cuts, covered in broken glass and what used to be a structurally unsound table but is now a pile of dark wood.

"Yeah... I'm pretty good. J? Are the lights on?" Tony isn't sure if Cap can see him.

"Oh God, your hands. Okay, come with me." Apparently the lights are on, and from where he is on the floor Tony hears glass crunching as Cap gingerly makes his way over and carefully pulls him to his feet. With a hand on the genius's shoulder, he guides Tony to the bathroom and sits him down on the edge of a small chair that he dragged along. (Based on the sound, Tony's pretty sure it's one of the low footstools that sits in the kitchen/living room/TV area.)

"This is going to sting, Tony." He winces a little as Steve cleans and bandages the small cuts on Tony's hands, making Tony feel like a five year old. This brings a flood of unwanted thoughts back again. _Worthless, protected like a child, liability..._

A warm hand cupping his cheek brings him back. "Are you okay, Tony? What are you doing up?" There is nothing but caring in Steve's voice, no pity.

"Nightmares. The usual. Besides, my guess is that I'm not going to be sleeping on a normal schedule anymore. It's always nighttime on planet Tony." He didn't mean for the words to sound so bitter, but they did anyway.

"Just another worthless talent: sarcasm," he mutters to himself. Unfortunately, Steve picks up the words with that infernal super-hearing.

"Worthless? Tony, you are the most valuable person I know. Probably the best of the team."

Now Tony is really upset, because he knows that isn't true, because Cap never plays favorites with the team. "What team? I'm not part of a team anymore! I'm weak, I'm vulnerable, I'm helpless, I'm a target, a liability." He yells at Cap, and it feels so _good, _to have it out of him, in the air. "I'm done. I will never do anything useful again. I'm exactly what my father told me I would be thirty years ago: a failure. I've wasted my life, I've failed Yinsen, and I will never, NEVER, be able to make it up, because I can't fucking SEE anymore..." Trying to stop the tears fails and Tony feels himself deteriorating, sliding into a low sob. He curls into himself on the chair and shakes, tears sliding from eyes that don't see.

There is silence. Steve says nothing. But then Tony feels large warm arms surrounding him and hugging him and at first, he tightens up, but then relaxes and lets himself cry, taking comfort that not everything in his life has left him.

"Anthony Stark, you are one of the strongest people I know. You are an Avenger, no matter what. Did you really think we were going to kick you off the team? Come on Tony, you're a genius." Steve is gently rocking Tony slightly, rubbing his arms. Tony knows this should feel so demeaning, but it also feels to good to make it stop. "We care about you, and even blind you can do things that none of us can. Those sunglasses and the earpiece you built today? Nobody could do that seeing, and you made them while blind. Besides, you know this might _not_ last forever. You could see tomorrow, or in five minutes. So no giving up on us yet, and as Captain of this team, you are stuck with us until I say so. Okay?"

After a few minutes, Tony can feel his shuddering slow down. He nods into Steve's shoulder. "Okay." He doesn't resist when the super soldier lets go and pulls him up to his feet.

"Don't worry about the vase, I'll take care of it." Steve is leading him around the glass in the hallway and into the elevator. When they arrive, Steve gets Tony back into the bedroom. "Good night, Tony. It'll be better tomorrow."

"G'night Steve," Tony whispers as Steve Rogers leaves him to sleep.

**There it is! I liked writing this one. REVIEW PLEASE! How am I supposed to know otherwise what you like and don't like and how to make it better? Comment, give ideas, whatever, but review! Thanks :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Steve

Everyone is blind.

Natasha is blind when it comes to small children, girls in particular, in need, making her an easy target.

Thor is blind when anyone talks about his little brother, even though he tried to kill Thor several times and take over the planet.

Clint it blind when it comes to Natasha. Regardless of the situation.

Bruce is blind when people need help, especially medical help, because he can help them.

Steve himself is blind when it comes to the bullies, those who can't defend themselves getting beat up.

But, Tony, he is literally blind. And this is scaring Steve slightly, because he doesn't know what to do about it.

When Tony had first woken up, it had been terrifying. Genius, Billionaire, Philanthropist, ex-Playboy Tony Stark, having a panic attack because he is unable to see. He had eventually pulled himself back together, and was having JARVIS help him, when Natasha walked up and commented on the coffee and Tony dropped the cup and flipped out.

He had disappeared into the lab for a few hours, which was normal, but that didn't stop Steve from worrying. And when he came out, Tony had several amazing pieces of tech on a level Steve couldn't begin to understand.

Rhodey had come and that had been okay, except Tony had almost fallen into a coffee table. (Steve had decided to like Rhodey; a military man with a sense of humor and a strong friendship with Tony.)

And then Tony had fallen apart. It was scary to have JARVIS alert him that Tony needed help, it was distressing to find him sitting on the floor surrounded by shattered glass and flowers, and it was terrifying to hear what Tony thought _they_ thought. How could they think he was totally useless? Yes, it was going to be harder now. Yes, Tony probably couldn't fly out with them anymore. But a liability? No.

Steve sighs and rubs his forehead. He'll have to tell the rest of the team, and probably Pepper and Rhodey.

They can do this. They're a team.

**Just a nice little short thingy from Steve. Nice to have another view. Review and keep reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

**My heartfelt thanks to Respected Dominator, Qweb, Wynter is Coming, TonyStarkFan, LaPiritaAna, and PSML for reviewing several times each on many chapters. I value your opinions and thank you for your ideas; they are so good to hear, and work really well!**

Chapter 9

A week later, Part I

A week later, several things happen. The first is that Tony finally agrees to have a press conference detailing his physical state. The second is the arrival of a white cane and Tony agreeing to relearn how to read. The third is an accident.

Tony takes a deep breath before stepping up to the podium, holding onto Pepper's arm lightly. He's tired, didn't really sleep yesterday, but there's a lot of adrenaline flowing right now. The room is the least controllable place he's been since The Accident. Even though the conference is about to begin, he can hear whispering, breathing and the scratching of pencils, the sound bouncing in the small room.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, you all know that there was an accident last week when the Avengers flew out to meet a force of unknown species and origin. I was in the hospital for several days, but the other Avengers are unharmed. (They had decided against mentioning Natasha's leg; now would be an ideal time for attack, with two members of the Avengers out of commission. It would stay on the down low until she was mostly healed.)

However, I am now unable to see." The room exploded. Tony thought he was ready, but _so many sounds, so much noise... _He couldn't even locate Pepper's footsteps, and he was alone at the podium...

Then she was there. "Questions? You, there." Tony smiled as she took control, probably having seen his impending panic attack.

"Mr Stark, how is this going to affect your status as an Avenger?"

"That is more of a question for the team, however I have discussed this with them." Tony flashed his press smile. "I will remain on the team, working as our technical support with Doctor Banner. I will not fly out with the team, for their safety and my own, but will still work with them."

Someone yelled from the back "How will this change your work at Stark Industries?"

"I will continue to work with Miss Potts at Stark Industries, although I will be less involved issues that I clearly cannot physically manage. With the excellent staff we have, and Miss Potts herself, it will be challenging but not impossible."

The press conference continues for another half hour, with Tony fielding questions like a professional (which he was, thank you very much). Pepper finally steps in.

"That will be all for today, thank you for coming." She touches Tony's elbow and he turns toward her, following her off the platform and back into the elevator. The car stops on the Avengers communal floor, and Tony walks off and collapses into the couch. He's finally learned this chunk of the Tower and it's now rare that anyone has to help him find furniture.

"Press conferences. I hate them." he mutters.

"Went badly, then?" Steve asks as he approaches. Tony can make out individual footsteps again, thank god. He hands Tony a mug of coffee, which Tony gratefully takes several gulps of.

"It was okay, really. Just... loud. Lot of sounds."

Pepper speaks up, and Tony can practically hear her smirking. "Not as bad as the one right after you got back."

Tony laughs a little. "True. That was chaos."

Steve sounds confused. "You gave a press conference when you got back from where? Afghanistan?"

_"_Yeah, haven't you heard that part? Right after I got off the plane, I told Pepper all I wanted was an American cheeseburger and a press conference. That, by the way, was the best damn cheeseburger I have ever eaten in my life. Anyway, I got to the press conference, sat down 'cause my legs hurt from crashing a low tech Iron Man suit into a sand dune, and announced that I was shutting down the weapons manufacturing division of Stark Industries. As you can imagine, that didn't go over easily."

_"_I can't see that going well at all."

"Well, it didn't. But it happened eventually. That was an exciting press conference."

He takes a few slugs of coffee and stands. "I'll be in the lab if you need me. Oh, and a package should be arriving for me. If it gets here, just leave it on the table, okay?"

Tony leaves to go do science.

**I feel like a lot of people would make a lot of sound to someone who is blind. I don't know though, not being blind. Thanks for the ideas everyone, and take a second to review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing.**

Chapter 10

A week later, Part II

When Bruce walks in on Tony, he's yelling at Butterfingers. "WHAT? You left it running? Who told you to do that?!"

_"I believe you did, sir" _JARVIS cuts in.

"Oh. Well, never mind then." Tony hears Bruce's step and turns towards the approaching scientist. "What's up, Sci-Bro?"

He's pretty sure that Bruce is rolling his eyes, even though it looses some of the effect when Tony can't see it. "Your package arrived. It's on the table like you asked, unless you want it down here?"

"Nah. I'll get it later. Thanks." He turns back to his work and listens for Bruce's leaving. "Right. JARVIS, send Dummy to the package and bring it to me. I need you to find me a room in the tower: twice as big as the rec room at least, containing several smaller pieces of furniture, and I can't have been in it in the last... six months or so."

There are several seconds of silence. "_I believe room 713 would serve your purposes. It was just emptied this morning, however, there are several lightweight pieces of furniture in the area. I will have You move them."_

_"_Thanks, J."

AAAAAAA

When Thor finds Tony, it's been almost two hours. Tony hears the knock on the door while he's taking a break for the bots to rearrange the furniture.

He considers hiding the long white cane that he's been practicing with, but it's really long, almost five and a half feet, and there's no way he would know if it was totally hidden anyway.

"Come in," he calls out to whoever is knocking.

"Greetings, Man of Iron! I have been sent to inform you that preparations are complete for the evening meal!" There is a pause, and Tony can feel the air currents shifting as the huge man moves towards him.

"What is this that you are using?" Tony shifts the cane in his hands, holding it out so that the god can see it better.

"It's a cane. Here on Midgard, they are used by people who are blind, or almost blind, to help find their way around. Even though I did that thing with the sunglasses and the eargear, sometimes I'll need to be less dependent on technology, in case something happens."

"How does it work?"

"Stand over by the wall." Tony motions in the general direction of the door Thor came through. "J, are the bots done and out of the way?"

"_Yes, Sir. The objects in the room this time are: coffee table, footstool, two office chairs, one small waiting room couch, and a side table."_

Tony sets off slowly, making a grid as he walks around the room, cane sweeping the floor in front of him. He works on keeping it in time with his steps, which was strange at first but is already feeling more natural.

Over the course of ten minutes or so, he locates and identifies all of the objects, ending with the side table, which is about four feet from where Thor is standing. "And that's how it works. I've been working on it for a couple hours, so it's starting to feel better. Haven't tried anything really complicated though"

Thor's hand hits his shoulder, and Tony doesn't flinch. It's easy to feel the big man coming. Thor speaks. "Truly, you are amazing, Tony. Already almost back to normal."

"Not normal, but close. Thank you Thor. Dinner?"

They move towards the elevator together, Tony holding the cane upright, letting Thor and his eargear with JARVIS guide him.

When they exit, Steve calls out "There you are! We were starting to think that Thor was lost!"

"Never fear, shield-brothers, I would never be so foolish to be lost in this tower, where the all-seeing JARVIS guides me." Thor proclaimed.

"So what held you up?" Clint asks.

"I was practicing, and Thor wanted to see," Tony answers. He pokes Clint with the cane, somewhere in the vicinity of Clint's knee. The assassin laughs and pushes back on the end of the cane, but then lets go. Good, because the feeling of the extra weight on the cane is slightly unnerving to Tony.

"Pepper sent a package. Here." Bruce says from the left as Tony moves towards the table, slightly behind Clint. Pepper was on a trip for a few days, having left the day of the press conference but only after making the Avengers swear that they would look after Tony. (Much to Tony's chagrin.)

Bruce slides the box to Tony across the table, knowing Tony's aversion to being handed things, especially now that he can't see what it is. The genius runs his fingers across the box, which is about the size of the textbooks he used in college.

He slides it back to Bruce. "Open it, please?"

There's the sound of scissors sliding through tape, then an item is being pushed back towards him. It's cool to the touch, plastic and metal, about an eight of an inch thick and the size of a starkpad. "What is it, exactly?"

"The packaging says it's an interactive learning device for the blind. There should be an 'on' button at the top." Tony slides his hands around the device until he finds the small button and pushes it.

"Hello! Welcome to learning interactive! This is a braille reader, puzzle and code edition. To start the first level, please press the continue button." What feels like a small arrow pushes up the bottom corner on the device's face. Tony presses it.

"Level one: basic coding."

Twenty minutes later, Bruce practically has to wrench the tablet out of Tony's hands so that he'll come and eat. It feels wonderful, to be able to read, even just a handful of letters and words. The machine either gives him a handful of words in braille that he has to dictate out loud to the machine or it tells him to write a line of computer code given a line of braille letters that push out of the machine.

It's amazing. Tony resolves to call Pepper and ask her for every version of this she can get her hands on. For now though, he'll settle for several hours with this new found skill.

**Ack, that ending was bad. Review, please, on everything! WHO GOT MY HARRY POTTER REFERENCE?! Hope to have a new chapter soon.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Hello again! For those of you who guessed, yes my little Potter reference was room 713 WHICH HAD BEEN EMPTIED THIS MORNING. I am such a geek. Look at me. Okay, enough said.**

Chapter 11

A week later, Part III

The tower is quiet. Tony can hear all of the little noises that are usually covered by the sounds the team of superheroes make. The creaking of steel girders, the wind brushing the tower, the trickle of water through the pipes.

Natasha, Thor, and Steve are at the Helicarrier, debriefing a clean up team who are still trying to contain the rhino robot situation. Pepper is still on her trip. Bruce is downtown at some doctor thingy. Clint is napping upstairs, checking on Tony periodically.

Tony is pretty sure that he has been planted by the other Avengers in keeping with Pepper's "Protect Tony" plan.

He sighs and closes his eyes briefly, even though it doesn't change anything, and sets the braille learning tablet to the side. In the two days since it had arrived, he has already mastered most of the levels and is almost fluent in reading the little bumps. (Hello! Genius here!) Bruce has promised to help him make and calibrate a machine that would translate what his computer said into braille.

Tony pries his eyes back open and pulls himself to his feet. Practice time. Reaching out to the side, he fumbles for a second until his fingers find the white cane. Gently pulling off his eargear (that he doesn't really need in the house anyway), he slides it in his pocket.

"JARVIS, mute unless I'm about to kill myself."

He takes a few steps out of the lab and heads to the right, a direction he seldom takes. Instead of taking him directly back to the elevator that he usually takes to the rec floor or the floor he shares with Pepper, it winds around to a set of stairs that edge the building. Tony follows the walls with the white cane, taking note of tables and chairs placed every few dozen yards. When he arrives at the stairs, he shifts the way he's holding the cane and gets ready for a first attempt.

The cane taps the bottom step. He follows it up. Not really sure how high this particular flight of stairs is, he slows down at stair fourteen. Three stairs later, he's at the top. He turns around and starts back down, smiling because _Yes, he made it to the top_.

About halfway down, it happens. He tries to place his foot out too far, where there's nothing but air and no step to catch his foot. There's a split second of realization, and then he's falling forward.

He throws the cane away so he doesn't fall on it and tries to rotate himself so that his back will hit the ground first and protect his head. However, due to the face that he no longer has any idea where the fucking _ground_ is, he might as well just be throwing himself down the stairs.

A second later, he hits the landing, half on his side and half on his back, his face hitting the stair above him. All of the air is knocked out of his lungs. Tony's left wrist is twisted painfully below him, and it hurts like hell as he pulls it out from under his hip. Something wet touches his lips, and his nose hurts. When he touches it his hand is wet. He's pretty sure it's not broken, just hit hard enough to bleed, but he's more focused on making his lungs work again.

JARVIS is talking to him. "_Sir, please do not move. Agent Barton is on the way." _Tony moans internally, because this is only going to convince the Avengers to keep a closer eye on him.

Clint bursts through the doors, making Tony jump. "Tony! What's wrong? What happened?" Tony feels the air move as he approaches and doesn't flinch when Clint's warm hands touch his shoulders. "JARVIS, medical scan, please."

"I fell down the stairs. I thought you were supposed to be observant, part of your super spy thing." Tony manages in between large gasps of air, now that his lungs are working again.

"_Medical scan complete: Sir is suffering from a sprained wrist, a bloody nose,and temporary low oxygen due to the fall. Sir will also be badly bruised, especially around the arc reactor and has several small cuts along his ribs."_

_"_I could have told you that." Tony tells Clint, his breathing settling back towards his normal rate.

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly the most caring about your physical welfare."

Tony rolls his eyes (even though he can't see, he can still do that, thank god) and pats his pocket, pulling out the eargear and running a finger over it. It seems to still be working, so he clips it back on his ear. When he reaches out to find the cane, Clint speaks again, a frown in his voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Going back up the stairs. And down again, although hopefully a more traditional way this time."

"Absolutely not. You're coming upstairs with me so I can look at those cuts, your nose, and the wrist. Natasha and the others will have my head if I leave your sorry ass here and let you fall down the stairs again because you have a sprained wrist that you're trying to work the cane with."

Tony really wants to argue, but it's true that this will be harder with a newly sprained wrist and blood all over his face. Plus, if he argues with Clint, Bruce will probably have _his_ head for refusing medical attention. So he sighs. "Fine." The air shifts again, and Clint is next to him, helping him to his feet and handing him the cane.

They go back to the workshop elevator (Clint won't even let Tony take the stairs to the Avenger's rec floor). "Couch." Clint orders Tony, then leaves, probably to get some band-aids or whatever he thinks he needs to patch up Tony.

Tony ignores the mandate, sitting on the footstool to the chair Steve usually sits in. Clint returns. "Why aren't you on the couch?"

"It's tan leather! I'm not going to get blood all over Pepper's tan couch! She'd kill me!" Clint laughs, then hands Tony a handful of tissues and tells him to pinch his nose and tilt his head forward while Clint takes care of his wrist. Soon, the nosebleed stops, and Tony goes back to wiping the blood off his face.

He is handed an ice pack by Clint and holds it to his face, which is uncomfortable but better than reopening the blood vessels and starting the blood flow again. Another is strapped to the sprained wrist.

"Shirt off, Tony. Cuts and bruises next."

"I always knew you wanted my shirt off, Birdboy," Tony half jokes, half grumbles, accepting the order and Clint's help. He rubs the sore area around the arc reactor, which feels incredibly hot and is probably covered in purple bruises. Even though he's not having trouble breathing anymore, his lungs and chest ache.

Clint applies band-aids and antiseptic to the cuts and holds yet more ice to the bruises. Tony can't help but shudder when the ice touches the reactor casing, the metal conducting the cold and carrying it deep into his chest. It feels like he freezing from the inside out.

A blanket is draped around him, even as more ice is applied.

"_Sir, the other Avengers are arriving. Doctor Banner is in the elevator, and Captain Rogers, Master Odinson, and Agent Romanoff have just landed on the roof."_

The door opens from the roof just as the elevator dings. Clint throws his hands up and says "Not my fault, I swear!" probably because Natasha is giving him her best, very intimidating, death glare. Tony can practically feel the heat radiating from the direction of the rooftop door.

Tony nods in agreement. "Had a slight disagreement with the stairs. It's all good though. Sprained wrist, few cuts and bruises. Now Birdbrain is trying to freeze me to death through the reactor."

Clint chuckles a little. "They can probably come off now, Tony." The genius can't help letting out a sigh of relief as the cold packs are pulled away and the temperature of the reactor casing rises a little. Even though he's sure the bruises are really bad, plus everyone can currently see the reactor embedded in his chest, nobody says anything.

Tony pulls his shirt on. "Well, this has been fun, but I'm going to-"

"You are going nowhere. You are going to sit on the couch and finish the Star Wars Trilogies with us." Natasha says in her mind control voice.

"I am going nowhere. I am going to sit on the couch and finish the Star Wars Trilogies with you." Tony obediently replies.

Steve laughs. "I got that! I actually got that reference!"

**Not a great ending, but I've been doing calculus for like six hours. My brain is mush. Reviews ALWAYS WELCOME!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Three weeks later, the dreaded moment happens.

"AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!" Cap's voice comes through the intercom. Tony is on his feet an instant later, moving as fast as he dares to the elevator. Thirty seconds later, he's in the Assembly Room. Otherwise known as the kitchen on the rec floor.

He's actually surprised the team hasn't been called before now, but at least he's prepared to sit it out.

He can hear the others in the final stages of suiting up, Clint cracking his knuckles, Natasha stowing away extra weapons, Cap rubbing the edge of his shield unconsciously. This last one makes an interesting sound, and Tony almost forgets what's going on while he's trying to figure out if it's the vibranium or the super strength friction doing it.

"Right, Fury called. Monster in Washington D.C. Apparently not so bad, but Bruce, you're coming anyway, just in case. Tony, ears on us. If we have an equipment malfunction, we're going to need you ready to back us up."

Tony winces a little. He can't help his team, can't fly out to fight evil and whatnot with them. "Can I come on the quinjet?"

"I'd rather you not." Steve's voice is gentle. "You know how many of those we destroy."

"Fine. But if something goes wrong, and someone gets hurt, I will hunt you down." It's an empty threat because without the suit and with no eyesight, Tony couldn't hunt down a regular person if they wanted to hide. But underneath the empty words, there is the mutual understanding that if something happens because Tony couldn't fight, couldn't help, he will see it as his fault. _Because it will be, _Tony reasons with himself.

"Understood. Now let's go!" There is a general battle cry from everyone, and the team runs out to the waiting quinjet on the roof.

"JARVIS, lab open, all screens up, patch me through to the Avenger's comm links. I'll be there in a sec." Tony grabs a cup of coffee, since it could be a long evening, and heads back to the elevator. When he steps into the lab, the sounds of the team surround him.

"Clint on top, Natasha with me on the ground, Thor, building across from Clint, soon as we get there. Bruce, stay nearby. Don't think the Other Guy will be needed, but just in case, be ready." Cap is dishing out battle orders and is met by a round of yes sirs and okays from the team.

"Tony, you with us?"

"Course I am. But not really. Just chillin' with some coffee." Tony snarks at Cap.

"Very funny, Tony. Ears open when we get there, okay?"

"Yes Sir! Will do, Sir!" Tony salutes, knowing that the team can see him on the screens in the jet that JARVIS has no doubt activated. There are some slightly restrained snickers that Tony knows are Clint's and a sigh from Cap.

The rest of the flight passes quickly; the Avengers are ready for action.

AAAAAAA

Five hours later, the team comes back through the doors. Tony has pizza ready for them; he knew they'd be starving when they got back. The monster ended up doubling when you tried to kill it. Thor found this out when he tried to smash it's head in with Mjolnir and it suddenly shuddered and split into two. Eventually, Steve found a week spot on the back of its neck that let them take it down, but not before there were eight copies running around. Other Guy did not need to make an appearance and nobody else was hurt, so it was a successful mission in their book.

Tony was happy that everyone made it back okay. Having another team member with an injury is not needed, even with Natasha's leg healed enough for action.

"-Tony? You with us?" Bruce's voice jolts him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, what?" Tony can just about hear Bruce roll his eyes.

"How were things on your end?"

"Fine. Natashalie, I was looking at your gloves, and I think I can make them stronger. You'll have to be careful not to touch them yourself though. It might not be particularly safe." Tony had filled his time with the team gone by working on their various weapons while keeping an ear on the comm feeds. It was strange and almost painful, listening to them work without him, but he was used to the idea by now. At least he could do something for them to help them fight better, if he couldn't be there himself.

"Excellent." Tony could picture Natasha smiling that killer shark smile, and grinned himself.

It was worth it, not being able to fly out with the team, because he was still be one of them.

**There it is. Not a lot of action, but... Anyway, REVIEW PLEASE! They make my day and make me want to write faster! NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT, any ideas please share!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Chapter 13

The Avengers are probably the most high tech team in the world. This is because every time they go out to fight, and Tony stays behind, he modifies and upgrades their equipment.

This time, it is Steve's uniform. Again. Tony has made it through the rest of the team's equipment in the three dozen battles since the first fight he missed. This is third time, though, he has needed to modify the Captain America uniform.

Steve still is filling out in dense bone and muscle, probably since Tony is making sure the super soldier has enough food to keep up with his metabolism. Bruce, Steve and Tony had determined that Steve needed eight or nine thousand calories a day, versus a regular two thousand. Over the course of the last seven months, ever since Tony went blind and suddenly had to be looked after by his teammates, Tony has been bound and determined to make sure the soldier is never hungry, as a sort of thank you for keeping Tony from accidentally killing himself.

The hologram chirps as it opens in front of Tony, and he reaches out and runs his sensitive fingers over it, pulling to the side items that can wait. He takes off the tool belt- the first piece he had worked on for Cap. It is now a technological marvel: bullet, laser, and knife proof, containing weapons, first aid, anything that Cap could really want, all built as small as possible so they won't get in Cap's way when he's fighting.

A second later, the hologram disappears. Tony swears a blue streak for a second, then yells "JARVIS?! What just happened to my hologram?"

The A.I doesn't answer Tony's call. "JARVIS? Protocol six-four-alpha-charlie-eight-bravo-zero." He's running his hands over everything and listening to the sound of silence. The usual humming and chirping of the bots is gone, the flow and ebb of the air in the vents, the slight buzz of the computers and machines in the lab, everything is silent.

Carefully, Tony makes his way across the lab towards the cord he took off earlier. It's hanging on the white cane, which he picks up with a sigh of relief. Even though the workshop is the place he knows best, it's terrifying to loose JARVIS, his other eyes. There is a small clatter as the cord with the small charm slips off the cane and onto the floor.

He bends down to locate the leather band that had been hanging on the cane. Usually, he's wearing it, but he took it off earlier so it wouldn't get caught on the machine he was tinkering with. It's a protection charm, a security measure from Thor. All he has to do is press his finger to the Asgardian metal and it will send out a distress call to the Avengers, no matter where Tony is and no matter where they are. He's only had to use it once before (except for a test run to make sure it really worked), when he started having a panic attack his first time on the Helicarrier. All the echoes and bouncing sound from the dozens of agents had nearly sent him over the edge. He pressed the token, the Avengers came running from various parts of the ship and whisked him off to a more blind-friendly environment.

Even though he's not planning on pushing it, yet, he wants the security of the charm. JARVIS doesn't just shut off on his own, along with the rest of the building. There's a little part of his mind that wants to panic very much, but the rest of his mind keeps it in check, shouting the fear down. He doesn't know what's wrong. It could be an accident, he tries to reason with himself as he searches for the charm.

_An accident? How could an accident kill the power to the whole tower, and shut down all the backups? _One part of his brain asks. "Shut up," Tony says out loud, even though it's all in his head.

"Why Mr Stark, you haven't even heard me speak yet. Your powers of preemptive planning are excellent. Not good enough, however, to keep me from hacking into your system, closing down that ingenious power source, and coming to kill you, though." A smooth, dangerous voice drawls from behind him.

Tony's heart jumped in his chest as he froze where he was. He could feel the leather cord of the protection charm, just out of his finger's reach. Mind racing through the possibilities, he decided on his usual plan: talk, stall, and be Iron Man. He took a deep breath, and forced himself to move, ignoring the screaming in that corner of his brain that was in full out panic mode.

Casually scooping up the cord and draping it around his neck, he pressed a finger to the metal as he turned around towards the silken voice. "I'm not sure you have the right person. See, I'm Tony Stark, of Stark Industries. A member of the Avengers. The most powerful fighting team on the planet."

As he spoke, he carefully moved around the lab, acting as if he had no specific goal in mind. Tapping on tables every once in a while to keep his bearings and make it look like he was doing something productive, Tony's ears were on full alert, tracking the man who was also moving slightly, probably to keep a gun pointed at Tony.

The man laughed. "Oh, I know who you are, Tony Stark. I was there from the very beginning of your career. You might say I helped start it."

Red flags were waving frantically inside Tony's head, alarms were going off, and there was a all points alert proclaimed. "Who are you? Since you apparently have the right man after all, it's only fair to let me have a name."

There was a small clink, the noise of the gun barrel tapping one of the steel tables as the man moved. "You will not know my name. But I was there when you broke out, when you killed those who I worked with. A bullet to the arm, that was all I got. Almost everyone else was dead. Raza was most displeased when he found you were alive." There is a momentary pause as the man moves again. "You may call me Insek."

Tony struggled to keep his facade up and in one piece. He was one of the Ten Rings. He killed Yinsen. He tortured Tony. He was part of the reason there was a hole in Tony's chest to keep him alive.

Casually, Tony hit a button on the wall. Nothing appeared to happen, but hopefully, one of the suits was deploying. All he had to do was stall for a few more minutes...

"So, you waited, didn't get killed when Stane murdered everyone else, and now are coming after me for revenge?"

A gunshot cracked, loud as thunder in the metal room, sending echoes off every surface. It disoriented Tony enough he almost missed the tug on his arm and the flare of pain that followed. "I remind you, Mr Stark, that you ought to watch what you say. The next bullet goes through your forehead."

Tony's fingers slide down his arm, finding the small flesh wound where the bullet grazed him, cutting a neat path through his skin and muscle. He clamped his palm over the bleeding, but couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"See, shooting like this is why it was so easy to get away in the first place. Pitiful, really."

The shot is just as loud as the first, except this time there is a rush of wind and it bounces off of the faceplate of the Mark VIII armor. Tony laughs a little as the metal folds around him. It's the first time he's worn it in seven months, and it feels amazing.

Five seconds later, Tony Stark is Iron Man.

He raises a gauntlet-plated hand and sweeps it in a wide arc across the entire room in front of him, hearing a scream from the man who was moments ago trying to kill Tony. There is a pounding of many feet, a frantic, but muffled yell of "TONY!", and then the sound of breaking glass.

Tony cuts the beam from his hand, and is surrounded by Avengers a second later. He pulls off the helmet, and holds it, moving across the workshop to the emergency backup. Taking a breath, Tony recites two pass codes, types in a series of code, and the lab has power again.

"JARVIS? You there?" Tony asks the nearest camera.

"_Yes sir... What happened, sir? I am currently 6 minutes and 43 seconds off of the international clock."_

"We got shut down by a member of the Ten Rings with a personal vendetta. Take some time and recalibrate, yeah?"

Tony starts manually removing layers of armor, relishing the feel of the metal plates against his fingers again. "Missed you, baby," he murmurers, rubbing the faceplate of the helmet.

He realizes the room is silent, and he can feel several sets of eyes on him.

"What?" he asks, pulling off the rest of the armor and clamping his hand back over his bleeding arm, which brings Bruce over to pull his hand off and look at it.

_"_Tony Stark. Still Iron Man." Cap finally answers in a voice bordering on awe.

"Not the suit, remember? Me." Tony shoots back.

And he means it. The suit is part of him, but he will always be Iron Man without it.

**Sorry for the bad ending. Hope this suits! REVIEW PLEASE! Even just four words! Or less! Or more!**


	14. Chapter 14

**This is it! The end! Thanks for sticking with me until the last chapter!**

Chapter 14

The next week, Tony wakes up to a healed arm and a surprise. As soon as he yawns, JARVIS turns on the lights like usual, and Tony falls off the bed totally blind. Which is amazing, because he's been blind for seven and a half months and it never hurt his eyes like the lights in his bedroom are hurting now.

"Lights at half," he gets out, then drops his arm as they adjust to a more manageable level and it hits him like a truck. He can see the lights. As fast as possible, and nearly falling again, Tony scrambles to his feet and stares around the room. Tan walls, red accents. The photo of him with Pepper. He reaches out and touches it dumbly, as if to reassure himself that he is not imagining it.

Three seconds later, he is running out of the room. "Bruce! BRUCE! STEVE! CLINTNATASHATHOR!" They meet him in the dining room in various states of dress. He drinks them in, feeling like he is in a dream. Dazed, he runs his fingers over the edge of the table that he knows by feel. It's smooth marble and now he looks at it, at the pale silver swirls in the white stone.

"JARVIS, call Pepper, text her or something, tell her I need her home now!"

The team still looks confused. Tony hasn't explained, is soaking in the ability to see, to have faces instead of voices, and depth perception instead of air currents. "Tony? Are you okay?"

"I can see, Bruce. I can see." To Tony's chagrin, he finds himself crying, spinning on the spot to look at his tower, something he thought he would never lay eyes on again except in memory.

"This is wonderful, friend Stark! We must celebrate!" Thor bestows a hug on Tony, crushing him, but Tony doesn't mind, seeing the emotions on the god's expressive face for the first time in seven months.

He is suddenly hugged by the rest of the team, and he runs fingers down the beautiful curve of Natasha's face and looks at Steve's blue eyes and Bruce's rumpled hair and Clint's strong hands.

They move into the kitchen and that's where Pepper finds them forty five minutes later, eating celebratory brownies at nine in the morning, everyone watching Tony's face shining as he rediscovers the world.

"Tony?" Her voice is trembling slightly.

"Pepper." Tony looks at her. He's forgotten how the sun sends streaks of gold through her red hair, how it bounces off her cheekbones. "You are so beautiful."

He kisses her, drinking in the sight of her face. "I love you."

She's crying now. "I love you too."

Their tears mingle with laughter and smiles and Tony closes his eyes for a second, knowing that when he opens them, they will be full of light and happiness and friendship.

**Short, but hopefully still good! Tell me what you think of the ending!**


	15. Chapter 15

**I was playing around with this and had several comments to help refine it. Thank you**

**WHY didn't anyone tell me the spacing was messed up!? Here's try two! (thanks PSML)**

Epilogue

The Avengers are planning on sightseeing a few days later. Director Fury is aware Tony can see again. There had been a brief press conference regarding Tony's physical well-being.

Nobody is tired of watching Tony rediscover the world yet.

However, since nobody can actually _find_ Tony at the moment, nobody is watching him do anything.

"Where is he?" Clint huffs. Having never really lost his ability to snark at Tony, he has rapidly regained his full level of annoyance at the billionaire.

"JARVIS, where is Tony?" Bruce asks, directing the question at the ceiling in a way that both JARVIS and Tony have informed him are unnecessary.

_"Mr Stark has just reentered the tower, having left one hour and forty-seven minutes ago._"

"One hour and forty-seven minutes? Where has he been for almost an hour?

"Out, Birdboy. Everyone suit up, we have a non-threatening visit to make."

Twenty minutes later, there are five somewhat confused super heroes in full armor, an until recently blind man with a metal suitcase, and his secretary in an elevator. Fifteen minutes after that, they are pulling up to a tall building with the words "New York School for the Blind" on it. It has no stairs, the doors are easy to open, and an older woman is rushing out to meet them.

Everyone is surprised when she hugs Tony. "I'm so proud of you, I heard it on the news!"

Tony laughs, not his news laugh, but the real Tony laugh. "Everyone, this is Isabella. She works here at NYSB. She was my teacher for a while, helped me get some materials for the braille reader."

The team greets the woman, and they move inside, talking with her. Tony pushes open a door about halfway down the hall.

"Hey guys, it's me!"

"TONY!"

"TONY"

"Guys, Tony's here!"

"Hey, did you hear-"

"We heard you could-"

"Tony!"

Tony is literally knocked over by eight or nine kids who come running across the room and plow into his knees.

"Take it easy, I'm still working on the seeing thing!" He laughs and starts asking the kids questions about how they've been. Several moments later, he straightens up.

"Okay, everyone! I brought some friends! These are the Avengers. We only have a couple hours so, have fun!"

Immediately, a mob of teenagers and younger kids work their way over to the Avengers, using canes like Tony had. Some of the older kids have eargear that is clearly Tony's work.

Hands are being run over the star on Steve's chest, the engraving on Thor's hammer. Clint and Natasha are playing games with a dozen kids, some kind of tag. Bruce is talking physics with a group of older teenagers.

Tony appreciates his life in a whole new way, seeing his friends having fun with a bunch of kids who have a joy for living.

_I haven't wasted it, Yinsen,_ he whispers silently in his head._ I've lived it for you._

**And that's the end for real. Hope this last epilogue chapter was okay! Thanks for reading, reviews and ideas for new fics always welcome!**


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